Arduino-Controlled Signal Attenuation

Arduino Team — July 24th, 2018

There are many ways to modify analog and digital electrical signals, but things get a bit more complicated—or at least specialized—when working with coaxial signal transmission. To this end, Kerry D. Wong found an unused attenuator evaluation board in his “miscellaneous PCB bin,” and decided to give it a new life using an Arduino.

The attenuator functions through a set of switches to set power dissipation from 0 to 31.5 dB, but it can use a serial interface for this function as well. In his new setup, the Arduino provides the needed control signal, via a user interface consisting of an encoder and LCD display.

The fact that it’s now programmable would also open up automated testing possibilities. More on this project is seen in the video below, with the Arduino configuration showing up at around 10:00.